Mediterranean Diet Reduces Mortality Rate in Heart Disease Patients

Pozzilli, Italy—Data from the Moli-sani study were presented at ESC Congress 2016 suggesting that a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of death in those with a history of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers from the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed Institute, located here, look at data collected in the Moli-sani epidemiological study, which involved 25,000 adults living in Molise, Italy. Of these, 1,197 had cardiovascular disease; 208 passed away during the 7.3-year follow-up. Researchers looked at the dietary questionnaires filled out by this group, rated their diets on a nine-point Mediterranean diet scale and considered mortality statistics. The investigators controlled for age, sex, calorie intake, egg and potato consumption, education, leisure-time physical activity, waist-to-hip ratio, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and cancer at baseline.

Of note, researchers found that a 2-point increase in patients’ Mediterranean diet scores was linked with a 21% reduced risk of death. Those scoring 6–9 on the scale had a 37% lower risk of death than those scoring 0–3.

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